The UFC’s first event of the brand new yr provided some incredible fights, big knockouts, and bizarre injuries.
This past Saturday, the premier promotion returned for his or her first event of the yr and their first since penning a brand new $7.7 billion broadcast cope with Paramount.
Within the UFC 324 foremost event, Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett threw down for the interim lightweight title, kicking off the brand new era with a bang.
The five round war saw ‘The Highlight’ Gaethje turn out to be the primary fighter in UFC history to turn out to be a two-time interim champion within the premier promotion, earning himself a shot at Ilia Topuria‘s undisputed title.
What’s your thoughts on Paddy Pimblett after UFC 324?
‘The Baddy’ showed tons of heart during his five-round war with Justin Gaethje.
White confirms the injury that UFC 324 referee sustained during fight
As has turn out to be the norm for UFC events, UFC 324 didn’t come without its controversies and bizarre moments.
On the prelims, extremely exciting prospect Ateba Gautier took on Andrey Pulyaev in a middleweight clash.
Known for his terrifying knockout power and being labeled the ‘middleweight Francis Ngannou’, fans were expecting Gautier to attain one other highlight-reel KO.
Despite that, the fight surprisingly went to a call, and each fighters left the cage relatively unscathed.
But the identical can’t be said for the referee who was in control of the motion, Mark Smith.
Following the fight, viral footage began circulating on social media of Smith being carried out of the sector by security, which concerned fans as they were unaware of what happened to the veteran referee.
Nonetheless, following the event, UFC boss Dana White provided an update on Smith, revealing that the referee suffered a brutal injury throughout the fight.
“No person has asked me concerning the ref blowing his ACL throughout the fight,” White said throughout the post-fight press conference.
“(He blew) his ACL, yeah. (I’ve never seen that before) just (Bruce) Buffer. Buffer is the just one I’ve ever seen blow an ACL that wasn’t fighting. Yeah, he blew his ACL, I don’t know what time it was (within the fight) but they’d to hold him out of there.”
Back in 2011 at UFC 129, Bruce Buffer tore his ACL while he was introducing Georges St-Pierre before his foremost event fight.
Who’s the perfect UFC referee?
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The foremost event garnered different reactions from UFC stars
Despite the foremost event providing five rounds of exciting motion, it received mixed reviews from the fanbase and UFC stars.
UFC welterweight champion and former lightweight king Islam Makhachev slammed the foremost event, claiming it was ‘unedible’ after being ‘served up on a platter’.
Khabib Nurmagomedov however took the possibility to congratulate his former foe, Gaethje, for his history-making win.
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